Approaching his "life of books", how the publishers of "Random Thoughts", "Letters from Fu Lei's Family", and "Six Records of Gan School" were born | Books | Random Thoughts
Fan Yong is a publisher with far-reaching influence since China's reform and opening up. He has served as the deputy editor in chief and vice president of People's Publishing House, as well as the general manager of Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Triple Bookstore. He has planned and published many important books and publications, such as "Journey to the West", "Random Thoughts", "Fu Lei's Family Letters", "Six Records of Gan School", "Reading Books", "Xinhua Digest", and so on. He entered the Reading Life Publishing House as a trainee at the age of 15 and began his publishing career in the midst of a bloody storm. From then on, he spent his entire life reading, editing, publishing, designing, writing, and promoting books.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Fan Yong's birth. The biographical work "Fan Yong: A Life for Books" written by publisher Wang Jiaming was launched by the Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Joint Bookstore. During the Shanghai Book Fair on August 18th, as one of the sub venue activities, a dialogue event titled "Today, How Do We Commemorate Fan Yong" was held at the China Museum of Modern Press and Publication. The attendees lamented that today's publishing industry is facing unprecedented changes and challenges. Reading this book is not only a reflection of the past, but also a way to learn new things.
"Fan Yong: A Life of Books" takes "books" as a clue to present Fan Yong's publishing style throughout his life. The book reveals the founding process of publications such as "Reading" and "Xinhua Digest", as well as the birth of books such as "Journey to the West", "Random Thoughts", "Fu Lei's Family Letters", and "Six Records of Gan Xue". It also tells the stories of Fan Yong's interactions with teachers and friends such as Li Gongpu, Chen Baichen, Tian Jiaying, Qigong, Wang Shixiang, Luo Fu, and Ding Cong.
In the early 1960s, Fan Yong published a biography of Russian publisher Sui Qing and named the book "The Life of a Book". These six words are also a reflection of his own soul. The boy who grew up by the "Yang Floating Bridge" in Zhenjiang has been playing in the printing shop across from home since childhood. After learning how to read, he always runs to the bookstore. He truly loves books before entering the publishing industry.
It was also because of their shared love for books that Wang Jiaming and Fan Yong became close friends. To write this biography, he consulted the manuscript archives related to Fan Yong stored in People's Publishing House and Sanlian Bookstore, collected a large amount of detailed and specific historical materials, and referred to many commemorative articles from friends. When editing Fan Yong's collection of over 1800 letters, he also saw many precious materials.
In the book, it is written that in the late 1970s, when the reform and opening up was still in the "overture" stage, Fan Yong presided over the publication of the Sanlian Bookstore version of "Journey to the West". He went through communication with Mrs. Snow and repeated consideration of the editing plan, trying to preserve the historical original appearance of this classic translation as much as possible; The source of this desire for publication can be traced back to his teenage years when he used half a month's salary to purchase the first edition of "Journey to the West", which he regarded as a treasure for decades. The publication of "Fu Lei's Family Letters" in the early 1980s was also due to Fan Yong's accidental discovery that a group of family letters from Fu Lei and Fu Cong had been preserved. Fan Yong once said, "We have a responsibility in publishing work: when we see good manuscripts, we should find ways to make more people read them.".
In 1980, Yang Jiang wrote a letter to Fan Yong regarding the publication of "Six Records of Gan School", expressing her eagerness in her writing. Fan Yong attaches great importance to this manuscript. In the report of the relevant leaders in the book, Fan Yong wrote, "I once imagined that Sanlian could publish some documentary works. These works are not history, but the factual records of the parties involved can also be seen as' testimony of history 'or' side notes of history '."
A book designed with style emphasizes the harmony of content and form, emphasizes the scholarly atmosphere, and emphasizes simplicity and elegance. "If you don't read the manuscript, you can't design the cover well." "A book should be designed as a whole, not only for the cover, including the cover, title page, spine, bottom cover, but also for the layout, title, and tail flower." These two sentences roughly summarize the design concept of the model. The special chapter "Fan Yong: A Lifetime for Books" introduces Fan Yong's design works and interests.
"Mr. Fan is stubborn, stubborn, and sometimes has a strange temper, but he is genuine, sincere, and devoted to books without any regrets. He is kind and meticulous to readers and authors, wholeheartedly. He is a rare and pure publisher." Wang Jiaming said, hoping that "Fan Yong: A Life for Books" can allow readers to enter Mr. Fan Yong's life field, think about their own lives and paths.
